Case study:River Bure

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Location: 52° 49' 26.61" N, 1° 12' 23.32" E

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity
Country	England
Main contact forename	Murray
Main contact surname	Thompson
Main contact user ID
Contact organisation	River Restoration Centre
Contact organisation web site
Partner organisations
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

River Bure - following restoration

Project summary

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The National Trust in conjunction with the Blickling fishing club undertook a two-phase restoration project (in 2008 and 2010) at the River Bure, Norfolk. This involved installation of Large Woody Debris (LWD) with the overall aim of improving in-channel and marginal habitats, by re-establishing natural river processes interrupted by past management activities.

The stretch of the Bure flowing through the Blickling Estate had been severely over-widened due to historic dredging to increase channel and holding capacity for several mills in the area. Within the 7 km of river channel that border the Blickling Estate there are four mills and several bypassed meanders. Siltation added to the degraded state of the river, which was heavily wooded.

Felling trees to create in-channel LWD was identified as a good way to increase habitat and restore natural processes to the Bure (historically fallen trees had been removed by the Environment Agency and local fishing club). (Introduction of naturally occurring LWD to encourage flow diversity and increase channel sinuosity). Riparian habitats were of high quality, comprising ancient woodland and alder and willow carr, therefore restoration works were restricted to options which would have a low impact on the site and surrounding habitats i.e. use of heavy machinery was not advised.

Objectives were:

- To improve river habitat by re-instating woody debris

- To increase the stock of wild brown trout

- To enhance biodiversity and conservation value of the reach

The project was completed in two phases. Phase 1 work was completed in November 2008 over four weeks. There was no allocated budget for the project, so works had to be economical and non-technical as access to the site was limited. Much of the work was therefore based on intuition and what was deemed to be aesthetically “right” for the location. Trees were felled into the channel with some minor modifications made to their in-stream position to comply with EA by-laws and fishing requirements. Work was carried out by volunteers using chainsaws, a hand winch and plastic boat. This phase increased fish catch numbers (based on Blickling fishing club records).

Phase 2 of the project was completed in November 2010, encompassing a baseline survey and monitoring. In this phase the introduction of LWD was more adventurous. Consequently, the results of phase 2 were even more dramatic than phase 1. Effects of restoration appeared to be proportional to the amount of LWD introduced into the river.

The approach at both stages involved adhering to the following:

-selection of trees which were already likely to fall into the channel

-fell them so they remained attached to the root plate

-allow branches to penetrate the river bed to secure the tree

-only if necessary use a stake to prevent movement

-modify the position if necessary to maintain other channel functions e.g. fishing points

-felling more than one tree at each location allows a web of branches and twigs to form, diversifying habitats and anchoring the “structure”

Since 2010 the river has continued to become more diverse in terms of the range of habitats. Sediment trapped by LWD has increase in channel and marginal vegetation. The redistribution of sediments has resulted in a naturally developing channel. Areas of faster flows have begun to clean gravels, with areas of reduced flow velocity causing deposition.

The National Trust has identified an increasing enthusiasm for retaining naturally occurring LWD as part of sustainable river management and restoration since the completion of this project. In the local area request to remove LWD have reduced dramatically. The potential reduction in management costs is likely to encourage LWD to be retained in its natural position or slightly modified as opposed to removed. The River Restoration Centre would like to thank Dave Brady from The National Trust for providing the case study content and photographs.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Lessons learnt

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Image gallery

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Phase 1 site 2 before restoration (D.Brady, The National Trust)

Phase 1 site 2 during restoration (D.Brady, The National Trust)

Phase 1 site 2 after restoration (D.Brady, The National Trust)

Phase 2 site 1 before restoration (D.Brady, The National Trust)

Phase 2 site 1 during restoration (D.Brady, The National Trust)

Phase 2 site 1 after restoration (D.Brady, The National Trust)

example of naturally occurring LWD that would have previously been removed (D.Brady, The National Trust)

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Anglian River basin Broadland Rivers Subcatchment River name Bure (Mid) Area category 10 - 100 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category Less than 100 m Maximum altitude (m) 5656 m <br />0.056 km <br />5,600 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Arable and Horticulture Waterbody ID GB105034055660 Site Edit site Name Bure at Blickling Estate WFD water body codes GB105034055660 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Bure Pre-project morphology Over-widened, Over deepened, Straightened Reference morphology Sinuous, Pool-riffle Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body No National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present No Species of interest Brown trout Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate Gravel, Silt River corridor land use Intensive agriculture (arable), Broadleaf/mixed woodland (semi natural) Average bankfull channel width category Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) 300300 m <br />0.3 km <br />30,000 cm <br /> Project started 2008/11/01 Works started Works completed Project completed 2010/11/01 Total cost category 1 - 10 k€ Total cost (k€) 66 k€ <br />6,000 € <br /> Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources National Trust Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design Stakeholder engagement and communication Works and works supervision Post-project management and maintenance Monitoring Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project historic channel widening Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Introducing large woody debris, Improvement of natural flows, Adding sinuosity Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Channel narrowing, Channel naturalisation Other Non-structural measures Management interventions No longer remove naturally occurring LWD Social measures (incl. engagement) Other Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information